News Release

Wednesday, February 15, 2006

International Fraud Ring Broken

Los Angeles: The Los Angeles Police Department served arrest warrants last night and early this morning in the culmination of a 14-month-long investigation, which led from Los Angeles to the Republic of Georgia, unmasking a Glendale-based non-profit charity operating as a front for fraud and stolen cars.

Global Human Services (GHS) was a registered non-profit charity with the state of California until February 2004, when their license was suspended. The charity posed as an organization that regularly sent humanitarian relief oversees via large shipping containers, mostly destined for the Republic of Georgia, Jordan, Armenia, and Russia. The organization’s true reason for existence was international car theft and fraud.

In June 2005, a search of two of GHS shipping containers by Immigration and Customs Enforcement in Houston, Texas, uncovered only a small shipment of women's shoes, and two expensive, late-model SUVs hidden behind a false wall of each container. The cars showed as stolen and/or obtained through fraudulent means.

Detectives discovered that GHS had made in excess of 200 such shipments overseas in the past two years. While manifests listed the shipments as clothing and other types of humanitarian aid, fourteen more stolen cars were seized by authorities in the Republic of Georgia, with the assistance of Major Crimes Division detectives and FBI legal attachés.

The investigation determined that representatives of GHS would solicit car owners and lease holders of automobiles. The cars' owners would surrender their vehicles to GHS for monetary gain; GHS would then ship the cars overseas. Once the vehicles were in transit, the owners would report the cars stolen and collect the insurance money.

Detectives estimated that GHS has shipped $5 million worth of cars during the past few years. That estimate does not include the loss to the insurance companies through fraudulent claims.

This investigation was conducted by Commercial Crimes Division, assisted by Major Crimes Division, and the National Insurance Crime Bureau.

The following persons were arrested on warrants connected with this investigation:

Name

Age

Charge

Residence

Booking No.

Bail

Rita Gervorkyan

27

550 P.C. (Fraud)

Burbank

8928899

$500,000

Garegin Narinyants

32

550 P.C. (Fraud)

Burbank

8928831

$500,000

Artem Mkrttchian

40

550 P.C. (Fraud)

Glendale

-

$30,000

Sevan Karayan

24

550 P.C. (Fraud)

Glendale

8928858

$30,000

Aram Kazarian

29

550 P.C. (Fraud)

Montebello

8928675

$30,000

Lioudvig Gevorkian

57

Out of Country

Los Angeles

-

-

Gayk Gevorkian

21

Out of Country

Los Angeles

-

-

Pavel Barem

33

550 P.C. (Fraud)

Whittier

8928746

$30,000

Gayanne Adamyan

22

550 P.C. (Fraud)

Los Angeles

8928884

$30,000

Sargis Adamyan

63

550 P.C. (Fraud)

Los Angeles

8928803

$30,000

Photographs of some of the containers and cars will be made available to the media. Requests may be directed to Media Relations Section at 213-485-3586.